2012 WJC Journal – Day Four

By Ken McKenna

December 30th, 2011

Photo: Russian forward Yevgeni Kuznetsov flashed a big grin following his 9-point performance against the Latvians (courtesy of Ken McKenna/HF)

Day Four of the 2012 World Junior Championships featured just two games. But the number of goals scored by just two of the teams involved in those two games would have been enough for a four-game slate.

In the early game, Canada continued its impressive run to the medal round with a 10-2 pounding of Denmark. Eight different Canadians lit the lamp, with forward Mark Stone and defenseman Brandon Gormley turning in two-goal efforts.

Thursday's contest was anything but; Canada dominated Denmark in every facet of the game right from the outset. The score after the first period was 4-0, the shots 15-3. By the middle of the second frame it became painful to …

A couple of the Danish players seemed to take the loss in stride, having some fun at the postgame press conference…

Not to be outdone, the Russians won by two touchdowns over Latvia, taking the second game of the day, 14-0. Russian forward Yevgeni Kuznetsov was a one-man wrecking crew for the Russians, turning in a 9-point game that included three goals and six assists. The point total fell just one shy of Peter Forsberg’s tournament record, 10-point effort back in 1992.

It looked like Latvia might put a scare into Russia, with the Latvians behind just 1-0 after one period of play. But a string of penalties in the second period doomed the Latvians and opened the scoring floodgates for the Russians.

Russian captain Yevgeni Kuznetsov dazzled with three goals and six assists as Russia pulverized Latvia 14-0 for its third straight win. The defending champions tightened their grip on first place in Group A, while the Latvians head for the Relegation…

One tweeter appears to have a catchy little name for Kuznetsov’s big performance…

We’re getting down to the nitty gritty in the preliminary round, with eight games left over the next two days. As this is being written, the USA and Czech Republic are locked in a 2-2 battle in the third period of today’s first game, a game that is a must-win for the U.S.